“I don’t know,” Faith said.
“An even bigger question is, how in the seven hells did he learn you were on the
Eyrie
?” Tristan asked. “Your identity and your current location are closely guarded secrets by royal order. Even if he’d followed you straight to Jasan, how did he find you here?”
“Again, I don’t know,” Faith said. “The Bearens speed traveled me off the Skyport not long after I arrived, so I know he couldn’t have followed me even if he’d been standing there watching it.”
“It’s a good thing Loni Katre took him to the
Vyand
for safe keeping, considering how many questions we need him to answer,” Tristan said.
“I’m so tired of this,” Faith said with a sigh. “So tired of people wanting to hurt me, or kill me. So tired of being afraid. So tired of running and hiding all the time. Will it ever end?”
“It is ended,” Tristan said. “You will never have to run again, Faith. Before this night is over, you will be falcoran. Anyone who tries to harm you does so at their peril. You will be able to shift into a creature that is strong enough to destroy them. Or, you can fly away if you choose. Not only that, but you will be very hard to kill.”
“That helps,” Faith said, smiling. “A lot, actually.”
“Did Eric tell you why he was trying to kill you?” Jon asked. “Not that it matters, really, I suppose.”
“He said that his sister never had friends because she was too pretty, until me, and that my betrayal of her is why she kept coming after me. In his twisted mind, that makes me responsible for her death,” Faith said. “It’s all garbage of course.”
She tilted her head a little as she studied the Falcorans. Her own excitement and curiosity had prevented her from noticing much else, but now she realized that they all seemed to be tense. “What haven’t you told me?” she asked.
“We’ve told you everything, I believe,” Tristan said, frowning. He looked to Jon and Gray, but they couldn’t think of anything else either.
“Then how come you’re all tense?” she asked. “Something’s wrong.”
Tristan sighed. “As much as we’re looking forward to being soul-linked with you, and with each other, we are nervous about the process itself.”
“Why? Is it dangerous?”
“No more than what we’ve already told you,” Tristan assured her. “Until a few short years ago, we hadn’t had an Arima in over three thousand years. When the Dracons found Lariah, they were afraid to link with her, and had, in fact, decided not to do so because she was human. They had no idea what would happen to her, and were afraid to take the risk.”
“Why did they change their minds?”
“Because she was attacked and nearly killed. Injecting her with their serum in an effort to speed up her ability to heal was the only option they had, just as it was our only option with you. But they soon realized that the process was much different than it had been for our ancestors. Three injections are needed now rather than the two our ancestors used. This is so that the human body can be changed to a clan Jasani body.”
“Wow, that must have been difficult for them,” Faith said, remembering how protective the Dracons were of Lariah.
“Yes,” Tristan agreed. “Very difficult. But they had no choice. Since then, several other Arimas have been found, and the male-sets began writing down what their experience was like as they are often different from each other. All Jasani read the reports, so that we will know what we might expect.”
“That makes sense,” Faith said. “So what has you worried?”
“The portion of the ritual during which your body changes,” Tristan said. “We know that you will not feel it, which helps a great deal. But from what we’ve read, the male-sets involved consider it to be the most horrific experience of their lives.”
“Why?” Faith asked, confused. “You said that I would be in pain, but not aware of it. You guys won’t be in pain, will you? Tell me the truth, please.”
“No,” Tristan said. “You needn’t worry for us, Faith. If only it were that simple, we would not mind. We will have to watch you go through the pain, and after what you’ve already been through this day, it will be very difficult for us to watch.”
“Oh,” Faith said, trying to imagine what it would be like to watch one of them go through the kind of pain they described. She shuddered. She preferred to suffer the pain herself. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Tristan said. “You must pay a price for this. It is only fair that we, too, must pay a price.”
“I’ll just be glad when its done,” she said, not knowing what else she could say. It was too late to stop it, and they couldn’t change what came next. She knew that the only way to get through things you couldn’t change was to grit your teeth and do your best.
“You guys are going to stay with me the whole time, right?” she asked, suddenly worried.
“We will not leave you alone for so much as a moment,” Tristan said. The Katres are filling in for us so that we will not be disturbed for any reason. You need not worry about that.”
“What about Bubbles?” she asked. “She’s been through so much already. I don’t want her to get stressed out any more.”
“We will use Water magic to keep her calm,” Tristan promised. “I’ve brought her bed, and her litter box. She’s eaten, and has all that she needs.
“Good, thank you,” she said, then yawned widely. “Excuse me,” she said, putting her hand over her mouth.
“You will fall asleep in a moment,” Tristan said. “In your dreams, remember that we love you, Faith.”
“I will,” she said, then yawned again. “In return, I ask that the three of you remember that I had already freely chosen this, even if I didn’t know the details at the time. I honestly don’t mind the pain, so long as we’ll all be together at the end.” Her eyes closed on the last word and she slumped sideways against Tristan, who caught her gently in his arms.
“Let’s get her washed up and into bed,” he said. Gray and Jon reached for clean washcloths and soap and moved across the tub toward Faith. As they washed her in silence, cleansing the last traces of blood from her body, they worried about what was to come, and did their best to prepare themselves for it. The sight of Faith’s many scars only made it more difficult for them. She’d been through so much already. Knowing that she wouldn’t actually feel the pain her body would soon go through helped, but only a little. Their biggest fear was that they would lose control of themselves. Somehow, they had to hang on through the coming hours. If they weren’t very careful, and allowed themselves to slip into blood rages, Faith would die.
***
“You did good tonight,” Doc said to Darlene as they followed the steward toward a guestroom aboard the
Eyrie
. “Very good.”
“Thanks,” Darlene said. “You didn’t do bad yourself.”
“Such praise!” Doc said with a chuckle. “I’m sorry about dinner tonight.”
“You saved Faith’s life, Doc,” Darlene said. “I think that’s a fairly good excuse.”
“Thanks,” Doc said. “I was looking forward to dinner though. Can we do it tomorrow instead?”
“Why not do it here?”
“That’s mighty tempting,” Doc said. “But you should go on back to the
Vyand
.”
“No,” Darlene said. “I want to stay here, with you.” She looked up, meeting his surprised gaze. “If you don’t object, of course.”
“Object?” Doc asked. “No darlin’, I’m pretty sure that objecting is about the furthest thing from my mind right now. Do you mind if I ask why you’ve changed your mind?”
“Seeing Faith just reminded me of something,” she replied.
“What’s that?”
“That none of us has an unlimited supply of tomorrows,” Darlene said. “If we don’t take what we want today, there’s no promise that we’ll be here to take it tomorrow.”
“That’s about the truest thing I’ve ever heard,” Doc said. “At the same time, I don’t want you doing anything out of fear. Specially not this.”
Darlene smiled. “Don’t worry, I would never do this, or anything, out of fear.”
“Good,” Doc said. “Neither would I.”
The steward stopped and opened a door for them. “If there’s anything you need, please press the guest service button on the bedside table,” he said.
“Will that connect us to someone who can bring us food?” Doc asked.
“Yes, sir, it will,” the steward replied as Darlene stepped between them and entered the room.
“Thank you,” Doc said, following Darlene and closing the door behind him. The steward smiled, then turned around and returned to his station. Those two people had just saved the life of the Admirals’ Arima. He’d tell Joseph to include a bottle of their finest wine with their dinner.
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
Tristan stood beside the bed staring down at Faith as she slept. They’d washed her carefully, dressed her in the pale blue nightgown he’d taken from her room, and dried her hair, which now lay across the pillow in a wave of chocolate silk.
“Funny how someone so small and fragile could change us so much,” Gray said from beside him.
“She’s not as fragile as she appears,” Tristan said with more than a little pride. “She’s got the strongest will and most steadfast heart of anyone I’ve ever known.”
“And she’s smart,” Jon said from where he stood at the foot of the big bed. “She doesn’t realize it, but she is. That’s why she’s able to see past her fears. The moment she knew in her mind that we would not hurt her, she moved past her previous experiences. It’s amazing.”
“Yes, it is,” Gray said. “It is also typical of Faith.”
Tristan nodded in agreement. “Does it seem strange that I am more satisfied with the knowledge that she will be better able to defend herself than I am with the idea of having her as our Arima?”
“You are still uncertain about claiming her?” Gray asked in surprise.
“No, not at all,” Tristan assured him. “I love her as you do. I just want more for her than I want for myself.”
“I know what you mean,” Jon said. He reached out with Water and checked her vitals. “It will be soon.”
“Yes,” Tristan said after checking himself. He looked at Jon, then Gray. “This will not be easy for any of us, but we must maintain control. If you feel yourself slipping, remember that doing so will cost Faith her life.”
He waited until he got a nod from both of his brothers before turning his attention back to Faith. He checked her vitals again, then climbed onto the bed beside her and turned her head gently while Jon and Gray positioned themselves at her sides and held her wrists in their hands. When they were all in position, Tristan checked her vitals again.
“Now,” he said softly. Then he lowered his mouth to her neck, and slid his mating fangs into her flesh. When the injection was complete, he licked the tiny wounds that remained, then pressed his lips to her forehead in a gentle kiss. “Now comes the hard part,” he said. As soon as the words were out of his mouth Faith’s body arched sharply.
Before the end of the first hour, Tristan realized that the reports they’d read describing this stage of the transformation were greatly lacking. When he voiced his thoughts to his brothers in between Faith’s convulsions, Gray nodded grimly.
“Of course they were,” he said, his hand trembling as he tenderly brushed a sweat soaked strand of hair off of Faith’s cheek. “I would never have agreed to this had I known how bad it would be.”
“Not even to save her life?” Jon asked, returning from the bathroom with fresh washcloths.
“No, not even then,” Gray said. “I would have preferred to join her on the next plane than to watch her suffer like this.”
“No,” Tristan said sharply, sensing Gray’s rapidly escalating despair. “
She
isn’t suffering. We are. Her body is. But she knows nothing of it.”
Gray stared at Tristan for a long moment, his light green eyes glowing, his jaw clenched tightly.
“She’s lost so much in her short life, suffered so much,” Tristan said, softening his tone. “I want her to take more than pain and fear with her when she goes to the next plane. I want her to experience joy, and love, and true happiness. We can give her that, Gray, but we have to get through this, first. Can you do that?”
“For her, yes,” Gray said with a quick nod. “For her, I can do anything.”
Tristan turned to Jon. “I can, too,” he said. “For Faith.”
During the next two hours, Tristan had to remind himself of his own words repeatedly. By the time the twisting, bone cracking convulsions began to ease, he was closer to giving up than he wanted to admit to himself. For the first time since the death of their parents nearly a hundred years earlier, he felt tears course down his cheeks, but he barely noticed them as he reached out with Water magic to check Faith. Hardly daring to let himself believe what his magic was telling him, he checked her again. “It’s finished,” he said, almost surprised that they’d all made it through the harrowing ordeal.
“Finally,” Jon said hoarsely.
Gray could only nod, his emotions too strong for words.